Biomedical subjects

K Rowlett

Publications and source records attributed to K Rowlett.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1989

Respiratory gases and acid-base balance in shell-less avian embryos.

1. The PCO2 and PO2 levels of oxygenated and deoxygenated embryonic blood were measured in normal and shell-less cultured embryos. 2. Embryos in shell-less culture were both hypoxic and hypocapnic, suggesting that wetting the respiratory membranes and the reduction in their functional area is distorting their normal function. 3. Despite this hypocapnia, there was evidence for an increase in base excess during incubation. This suggests that plasma bicarbonate is derived from renal sources rather than by resorbing the eggshell calcium carbonate, which is, of course, absent from shell-less cultures.

Acid-Base Equilibrium↗

PubMed1987

Physical influences on embryo development.

There is a critical period between 3 and 7 days of incubation when the absence of turning in eggs of the domestic fowl leads to increased mortality and decreased embryo growth. This critical period coincides with the time of subembryonic fluid formation, and it is suggested that the absence of turning leads to the presence of unstirred layer effects in fluid secretion. This fluid deficiency persists throughout the subsequent development of the embryo. Experiments on shell-less culture systems support this interpretation in preference to other explanations of embryo death in unturned eggs, which usually refer to chorion adhesion to shell membranes.

Animals↗